The South Korea Financial Services Commission has published a cross-government plan to strengthen prevention, enforcement and victim support for illegal private lending as reported cases rose from 1,362 in 2021 to 5,519 in 2025. The four reforms expand prior review to all online lending advertisements, introduce rewards for reporting illegal advertisements, assess undercover investigations and a special victim reporting period, scrutinize platform self-regulation and enable faster referrals from the one-stop support service to police. Under the planned advertising regime, platforms and other media would have to verify that the Korea Loan Finance Association completed its review before carrying an advertisement, with fines for procedural breaches. The government will begin preparing legislative amendments immediately and pursue advertising-related changes in the fourth quarter of 2026. A platform self-regulation council will also begin operating that quarter, followed by compliance reviews in the first half of 2027. Building on the integrated support system for illegal lending victims, police personnel will be assigned to the Credit Counseling and Recovery Service in the fourth quarter of 2026 so cases can be referred directly for investigation when needed. Authorities will also consider extending undercover investigation powers to illegal lending and operating a special reporting period in the first half of 2027 for victims who fear prosecution because lenders coerced them into unlawful conduct.

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